Two asylum seekers who stole £25k gold Rolex in London’s Soho allowed to walk free

18 July 2024, 10:34

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Two asylum seekers who stole a £25,000 gold Rolex in London’s West End last year have been allowed to walk free.

Yousef Garef, 21, and Amin Abdelkadar, 25, who both admitted to robbery, were spared jail and instead given community orders on Wednesday.

The pair attacked Kris Smith at around 2am in Soho on July 21, 2023.

Garef grabbed his gold Rolex Day Date watch while Abdelkadar covered his mouth to stop him shouting out for help.

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Donna Longcroft, prosecuting, said: “Mr Smith was approached by a male on an e-scooter, who was keenly interested in his watch.

“About 30 minutes later the victim was walking along Dean Street in Soho.

“He turned right onto Old Compton Street, and was approached by a male in a white bucket hat, who introduced himself as Yousef.

“They walked along Old Compton Street towards Wardour Street. Another male followed and spoke to Garef.

“Garef grabbed the right hand of the victim and put his hand over the watch… Abdelkadar hugged the victim and covered his mouth as Garef tried to take the watch.

“The victim was shouting: ‘Don’t take my watch! Don’t take my watch!'”

Judge Adam Hiddleston said: “You followed and attacked a member of the public with the intent of stealing from him a valuable watch.

“Such offending has become a scourge of the West End.

“They have become an all too frequent occurrence in the past few years.

“These offences took place in the early hours of the morning. You were both acting as part of a group and you were targeting high value property.”

Abdelkadar received a two-year community order and Garef received a three-year community order, with them both needing to complete 150 hours of unpaid work and 40 hours of a rehabilitation activity.

A curfew has been put in place for six months, meaning they will not be able to leave the Home Office Asylum Centre in Islington between 9pm and 6am.

And as a result of a five-year criminal behaviour order, neither of them will be allowed to enter the western half of the City of Westminster or maintain contact with each other.